#Girl you're so damn dramatic get your ass up and continue the cycle | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

empressofthelibrary · 5 months

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Okay, for the ask game: 62 (Magic) , and Bailey and Annie from Skullgirls?

(For reference: https://skullgirls.fandom.com/wiki/Annie )

(Ah, Annie of the Stars! I haven't played Skullgirls in forever, I ought to fix that)

Bailey cursed, stumbling as the door turned her out on an unfamiliar street. She caught her footing and whirled, just to see it swing shut behind her -- Metal now, not wood, and branded No Public Access.

"Broom closet my ass!" Bailey yanked on the handle, but it wouldn't budge -- unless she felt like breaking the lock, anyway. "Stupid Gavin and your stupid haunted magic house!" She snarled in frustration, kicking the brick wall. Her heavy-soled boot thumped against the doorframe. "I already bought the damn movie tickets!"

She'd swung by Gavin's place when her bedroom door had opened into her best friend's parlor. It seemed that the spirit of Lowell Manor had decided she'd been away too long. Bailey had assumed that she'd be able to get away with a quick visit, then pop back home in plenty of time for her evening plans. And maybe it would be nice to pick Gavin's brain over this... not-a-date with Jonah.

But things never went according to plan.

She'd found Gavin working on a magic circle in his basement. Three concentric rings of complicated runes, the lines and loops precisely arranged. He'd been too focused on his work to really listen to her, sitting up in the middle of her ramble to curse and declare he'd grabbed the wrong pillar candles. Bailey, wanting to help, had opened the closet door he'd pointed to.

And now Bailey found herself standing in what sure looked like a studio lot, between two bland buildings, with no clue what city or even part of the world she was in.

"At least it's summer," Bailey grumbled, planting her hands on her hips and rolling her shoulders back. "Means I'm still north of the equator."

"Oh, seriously?" A new voice made Bailey's head turn. A teenage girl, teal braids hanging on either side of her head, stood at the other end of the alley. She was dressed in dark greens, thigh-high boots and a longsleeved dress with a high collar. A patch covered one eye, and she held a stuffed rabbit in the crook of one arm. "So much for my break. At least it means I'm on the right track."

Bailey glanced around, but didn't see anyone else this girl could be talking to. "Me? On what track?"

The girl opened her arm, and the rabbit -- clearly not a plush -- hopped to the ground. A sword materialized in her outstretched hand, shimmering into existence. "Don't play ignorant. Dressed like you are, you've got to be one of her enforcers."

Bailey took a step back, glancing down at her own outfit. Heavy knee-high boots, fishnets and cutoff shorts -- LA was so much hotter than New York had been -- and a black halter top that maybe had a little more cleavage under that mesh panel than was appropriate, now that she looked again. The fingerless, elbow-length gloves were maybe a bit much, as well. "Dressed like -- What is that supposed to mean?" Granted, it wasn't exactly a casual outfit, but it hardly screamed 'fight me.'

But Bailey never got an answer. The stranger leapt at Bailey, blade slashing through the air.

Bailey jerked to the side, barely dodging the strike. "Woah! Hey, kid, didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with knives?"

"Be quiet," the girl snapped. "I won't let you stop me! I will find the Skullgirl, and I will stop her!" She swung the sword again, driving Bailey back.

"Look, I just got here!" Bailey raised her hands defensively. "I don't have a clue what you're on about! What's a skullgirl?"

"Either you've allied with the Heart," the teenager insisted, "or you want its power for yourself!" She pointed the sword at Bailey dramatically. "Whichever way, you're going down. I can't let this evil cycle continue!"

Bailey kept backing up, staying on the defensive. I'm not fighting a middle-schooler, she thought. Even if she is trying to stab me and acting like I'm some kind of supervillain. I don't like it, with my face bare, but there's only one acceptable way out of here.

In a flash of light, gold-feathered wings bloomed from her back, magical tattoos brought to life.

The teenage swordswoman stopped in her tracks, left hand raised to shield her eye. Bailey took the chance she'd bought herself, launching herself into the air. Wings pumping, she rose into the sky --

-- And found herself wheeling above a city that didn't look like anywhere she knew.

"Where in all sixteen gods-damned hells AM I?!"

#i hope i got annie's dialogue and characterization down right #i have spent... so much time trolling that wiki #that is one hell of a rabbit hole to get lost down #...OH FUCK IT'S TWO AM /how did that happen/#this was fun i might revisit this thread sometime #Bailey Adler (oc)#Em's OCs

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